Afro Samurai Walkthrough & Strategy Guide

These guys can be defeated in short order, plus there's a teddy bear that you can use to refill your life if you take too much damage. Then you're free to start across the wide suspension bridge. As you do so, you'll trigger another scene and will need to take care of a doppelganger. He looks much like you and fights much like you, as well. The easiest way to beat him is to steer clear of his series of slashes?which can inflict severe damage if they hit you?and then attack from the side with focused horizontal slashes. Attack and retreat, attack and retreat as he dances wildly around the area and unleashes a fair few combos. You should be able to block any stray slashes aimed in your direction, but don't get too close until you're on the offensive. It actually won't take all that many direct hits to send him to the scrap heap.

When the doppelganger goes down, you're still not safe. The guy with the rocket launcher will appear, only this time he's tried a different technique. Charges were placed along the bridge and now they'll explode. As before, run like crazy toward the screen the split second you have the option to do so. You'll easily outrun the blast and another checkpoint will be reached.

You'll fight lots of weaker enemies now.

The fourth murder of crows likes to watch from a high platform.

As the checkpoint icon fades from the screen, you'll find yourself facing the first of several fights with weaker enemy soldiers. There are three waves of them. You'll first fight a bunch of humans on the level where you approached. Then you'll jump up a wooden wall to face some robotic adversaries. Finally, you'll see a gap where you can wall run. A group of more human enemies will be on the opposite side. They'll see you, so it's easiest just to let them run across the gap to approach you, then deal with them where you fought the robots so that you can safely wall run to the other side of the gap once the threat is gone.

Past where the last group appeared, you'll see a teddy bear that you can slash if desired. There's a wooden wall just beyond that. Climb it, then turn toward the direction from which you've just come. There's a wooden ramp leaning out from the wall above. Jump and you can grab it, then pull yourself up to face out toward another such ramp. There, you'll see murder of crows #4. Hop over to them and shoo them away, then continue along the path leading through the canyon.

You'll next have to leap over a gap, then climb along some more wooden stairs. Soon, you'll come to a place with a wide gap. The only way to cross is to jump to a tree branch ahead of you, then swing from it to safety on the opposite side.

Once you've made that dangerous vault, you'll find yourself at the base of another wide gap. Here, you have to run up the railing that stretches across its left side. Just run toward it and keep moving. There shouldn't be any trouble until you arrive safely on the other side. Here, several of the robotic enemies will attack you. They should fall swiftly to focused horizontal strikes, then you can slash a teddy bear to refill any life you lost in the fight.

Ahead, you'll now see an elevator shaft like the one you destroyed a moment ago. You should use the same strategy now: slash the rope and hop your way up the shaft. The difference is that slashing the rope at the bottom will require you to jump, quickly enter focus mode as you leap, then charge and unleash a horizontal slash before you descend too far from the peak of your jump. If you timed it right, the elevator will crash down and you can use swift wall jumps to ascend the shaft.

At the top, you'll find yourself facing an open space with a suspension bridge leading to the right. Before you cross the bridge, head forward and you'll find murder of crows #5 waiting at the opposite side of the area. Shoo them away, then start across the bridge.

Halfway across, you'll be greeted by enemies who identify themselves as the wild five. They're fairly strong against even your focused slashes, but you should still be able to defeat them by keeping the bulk of them ahead of you and hammering them with that attack regardless. Each can withstand four or five such strikes before going down, so you should be able to eliminate all of them if you're persistent. When they disappear, then you'll be joined on the bridge by a bunch of weaker thugs. They can still make your life miserable if you drop your guard, so fight them with everything you've got and try to horizontally slash multiple warriors whenever possible.

Once you defeat the last of those soldiers, you'll be free to continue toward the end of the bridge, where you'll witness another scene and then be engaged in a boss battle.

Boss Battle Start

This fight takes place entirely in the air and it shouldn't prove terribly difficult. You'll mostly just have trouble getting near enough to your opponent to actually hit him. Since you're falling through the air the whole time, all you can really do is guard any attacks that seem to come your way?though none do so with any real frequency?and wait for the robot you're battling to get within striking range.

The real trouble with this fight is that it's difficult to get close.

When you get close, you can use quick attacks that eventually lead to decisive victory.

When your adversary does come close, that's when you should use a focused strike to horizontally or vertically slash him for some nice damage. However, that doesn't mean that you should rely just on those attacks. It's also worth your while (particularly at the start of the fight) to just mash your light attack button. Your rival in the air moves with incredible speed, so he's not going to fall to a steady string of heavier blows. Mix things up a bit and try to move toward your opponent whenever you see him. Be ready to block as needed, but mostly this is a fight that can be won by staying on the offensive as much as possible.

Boss Battle End

When you win the battle, there's another cutscene and then you're taken to the next stage, as usual.